In polished Singapore, Haunting Heritage Excursions is uncovering the tales that lie in the dead of night
It’s 5.30PM on a moist Saturday night, and I’m heading out for the evening. However I wasn’t going out to a bar or membership for drinks—I’m boarding a ferry from Changi for one thing way more unconventional: a ghost tour on Pulau Ubin.
At one level, I discovered myself strolling alongside a rocky path in pitch-black darkness with 11 different contributors, guided solely by two tour guides and a candle-lit lamp. Considered one of them joked, “Now, that is the half the place you don’t wish to be the final particular person.”
Being the scaredy-cat that I’m, I hurried to the entrance, silently praying, although I’m not spiritual, till we reached our vacation spot: a humble picket shrine generally known as the German Lady Temple.
This was my introduction to dark tourism: visiting websites related to loss of life, tragedy, and the supernatural. However as I might be taught, it’s not nearly ghost tales. It’s about historical past, empathy, and the way we confront the uncomfortable components of our previous.
Extra individuals are curious about darkish tourism
The time period darkish tourism was first coined in 1996 by Scottish professors J. John Lennon and Malcolm Foley, describing journey to locations linked to loss of life and catastrophe, like Auschwitz in Poland, Pompeii in Italy, and Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
All over the world, curiosity concerning the macabre is rising. Based on a report by TravelandTourWorld, the darkish tourism trade alone is anticipated to swell to almost US$40 billion by 2032. What was as soon as a distinct segment fascination has grown right into a recognised type of cultural tourism, providing individuals an opportunity to confront the tales historical past typically leaves in the dead of night.
In Singapore, that fascination has discovered its champion in Eugene Tay, founding father of darkish tourism group Haunting Heritage Tours. These excursions began in 2023, following the success of his 2015 book Supernatural Confessions: You Are Not Alone, which recounts his personal expertise of studying concerning the spirit world, demonic possessions, and exorcisms.
The ebook garnered a web-based neighborhood of paranormal survivors, believers, sceptics, and the merely curious, which then led Eugene to additional increase his enterprise right into a full-fledged media platform with a YouTube and podcast channel.
Now, Haunting Heritage Excursions can be a part of his enterprise choices, offering a wide range of experiences. Each takes contributors to notorious neighbourhoods for supernatural sightings, comparable to Changi and Pulau Ubin, mixing folklore, native historical past, and the occasional chill down your backbone.
Breaking the taboo
Whereas Supernatural Confessions earns from different avenues, together with Patreon subscriptions and on-line reside exhibits, half of its income comes from its Haunting Heritage Excursions. However for Eugene, getting right here wasn’t simple, and the trail to legitimacy was, fairly actually, haunted by forms.
When he first launched his Changi tour in 2023 with the late playwright and theatre director Jonathan Lim, it rapidly gained reputation. Members liked it, and phrase unfold on-line.
Nevertheless, his success additionally drew the eye of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), which knowledgeable him that he was liable to be fined for working unlawful excursions, one thing that he by no means anticipated. “I do know we shouldn’t spit, I do know we shouldn’t steal. I do know we shouldn’t rob and homicide, however I didn’t know this was towards the regulation,” defined Eugene.
Decided to proceed, he enrolled in a nine-month course and earned his tour information license in Apr 2024, making him the primary licensed tour information in Singapore that specialises in darkish tourism. That mentioned, some STB officers nonetheless remained cautious, involved about whether or not his excursions would mirror poorly on Singapore’s world picture.
“I might inform that it was a love-hate relationship with me,” defined Eugene.
Finally, Supernatural Confessions was invited to curate official strolling excursions for the Singapore Heritage Competition 2024. One tour was designed as a lighter, tamer model for informal contributors, whereas one other leaned totally into the paranormal expertise.
The spookier tour, Stroll With Hantu: Changi, rapidly offered out, reaching its participant restrict inside every week. Demand was so sturdy that the tour needed to be prolonged for an additional week, and it turned certainly one of Eugene’s signature experiences.
Since then, Eugene has collaborated with establishments such because the Peranakan Museum and the Singapore Evening Competition, providing guided walks even throughout historically non-scary months like Apr and Might. The success of those excursions demonstrates that what began as a distinct segment curiosity has grown right into a year-round curiosity for each locals and vacationers.
Sharing firsthand experiences, whereas additionally incomes from it
Having run Supernatural Confessions for almost a decade, Eugene has collected a wealth of ghost tales and firsthand accounts. These experiences type the spine of his excursions, giving them a depth that goes past easy storytelling.
In a world the place data is immediately accessible, Eugene sees immense worth in gathering private tales from locals and households. They provide contributors a tangible connection to the previous: experiences and particulars that may’t be replicated by books or on-line analysis.
“I can stroll down Chinatown and let you know the historical past, however what makes my tour a killer is that I knock on the door and interview a retired prostitute or somebody whose grandmother was a Samsui lady, and her grandmother advised her these tales,” he mentioned.
However working these excursions additionally comes with logistical and monetary issues. Whereas most of Eugene’s excursions value between S$68 and S$89, some—just like the Pulau Ubin tour I attended, which is that this 12 months’s seasonal providing—are priced greater at S$158 per participant. The elevated value displays elements comparable to the necessity for a ferry and the tour’s longer length.
Eugene defined {that a} portion of the income covers operational prices, one other portion goes to the teams and people who host his excursions, and roughly 30% goes to him personally. This fashion, the excursions can present further revenue for residents and companies, constructing lasting relationships within the communities they go to.
The demand is there, however these excursions aren’t simple to run
Regardless of the rising curiosity, darkish tourism in Singapore stays a distinct segment in comparison with different international locations. One key problem is execution: guides should adapt to a variety of contributors, from kids to company teams, whereas dealing with delicate themes comparable to loss of life, trauma, and tragedy with tact and wit.
“As a information, you’re not simply being a storyteller, not simply being a repository of details, you’re additionally being an entertainer, you begin taking good care of individuals’s emotions, as a result of darkish tourism, not like some other type of tourism, it’s darkish, spectacular and scary,” he mentioned.
In a bid to increase his enterprise, Eugene has skilled different guides, with combined outcomes. In a single occasion, a information delivering Eugene’s materials concerning the late playwright Kuo Pao Kun got here throughout as insensitive, incomes their first one-star evaluation. The reviewer said that some details about Kuo Pao Kun had been misrepresented, making the expertise really feel “disrespectful” and “poorly executed.”
Even a single misstep like this will overshadow in any other case well-received tales, which is why Eugene continues to steer most excursions himself. Nevertheless, this reliance on him additionally limits the variety of excursions the corporate can provide.
All excursions happen on Fridays and Saturdays, proscribing month-to-month capability. “I can create 10 excursions tomorrow, however I don’t have the times to run them,” he added.
“So, till I discover one other Eugene, or even when I can’t discover one other Eugene, I want to have the ability to let the neighborhood know that there’s going to be completely different guides with completely different kinds taking up my content material. And till that occurs, I don’t see my income rising very a lot.”
Sustaining the credibility of darkish tourism
Eugene believes each story deserves respect—and that features the tales of spirits.
Many teams in Singapore have interaction in ghost searching, utilizing units to detect spirits and making an attempt to impress paranormal exercise. Eugene has additionally experimented with comparable one-night-only occasions on Halloween earlier than launching his excursions.
Nevertheless, he realised that such antics are disrespectful to the spirits current after listening to accounts of others’ well being deteriorating or getting damage from their actions, and having firsthand expertise with possession circumstances and paranormal encounters.
“If I’m working a tour and I’m gonna do this, who’s to say that sooner or later I cannot get certainly one of my contributors possessed? That would be the finish of my tour. And if a life was misplaced, then there’s going to be a stage of guilt and duty.”
The stakes transcend particular person security. Eugene additionally feared that such antics might injury the credibility of darkish tourism in Singapore. By specializing in research-driven storytelling and immersive experiences, he maintains each participant security and the integrity of the excursions.
“What I concern is f****** up darkish tourism’s popularity,” he lamented. “You gained’t see the differentiation, as a result of it’s all lumped underneath darkish tourism, in order that’s the hazard of it.”
Extra room to develop
As demand grows, Eugene is engaged on increasing his excursions and involving new guides with out compromising the expertise. He additionally plans to publish one other ebook detailing the tales he’s collected and launch an academic course for aspiring darkish tourism guides.
“If you wish to run it, take my content material, go forward. If I believe you’re adequate, I’ll rent you to be an official information on my Haunting Heritage excursions. If not, be at liberty to run by yourself,” he candidly said.
Reasonably than seeing competitors as a menace, Eugene views it as a possibility to convey darkish tourism to new neighbourhoods and current one other aspect of Singapore that’s hardly ever seen. He believes the urge for food for horror is common, no matter age, background, or socioeconomic standing; everybody leans in when a ghost story is advised.
“I’m going to reside to say this, I consider everybody in Singapore has an urge for food for horror in some form, means or type. No matter their SES stage, race and age, when somebody tells a ghost story, all of them can be on the identical web page.”
- Be taught extra about Haunting Heritage Excursions here.
- Be taught extra about Supernatural Confessions here.
- Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Supernatural Confessions
